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Here we are at the end of another year of happy bookselling with the shelves groaning under the weight of all the gorgeous books that have recently arrived. So much choice but lots of fun in the choosing. In the last few months, we have had Belinda managing our Facebook page and what an amazing difference she is making. She has helped us showcase books that we are recommending in a creative and compelling way. We are very grateful to have her as a part of our team.

If you have never checked out our Facebook page, now might be the time to try. There is a special promotion to win a lovely pile of Summer reading for all the family and to gift a matching selection to a friend. The promotion ends on December 8th when the lucky winners will be announced.You can access the Facebook page easily via the website here.

Patricia Morrison: We were shocked and saddened at the sudden death of Patricia, a previous owner of the shop, friend and great supporter for many years. In the last few years, Patricia had been very involved in libraries at the prisons and made a huge difference there. We will miss her.

Christmas Bags: Beatrice has been busy making sustainable Christmas bags, $12, which you can use to wrap a book or gift.

Christmas Books: We have a comprehensive range of Children’s Christmas books for all ages, including Nativity stories.

Christmas and Holiday Hours:

Sundays in December: From Sunday, December 3, we are open Sundays, 11am to 3pm.Christmas Day: ClosedBoxing Day: ClosedDecember 27, 28, 29: Open 9am to 5pmDecember 30, Saturday: Open 10 am to 2 pmJanuary 1 and 2: ClosedJanuary 3, 4, 5: Open 9am to 5pmJanuary 6: 10am to 2pm.

Thanks for all your support this year, Happy Christmas and enjoy a safe and relaxing holiday, from the team at Marsden Books; Anna, Philippa, Heather, Anne, Megan, Beatrice, Belinda, Charlotte and Emily.

Lincoln in the Bardo

George Saunders (Bloomsbury Publishing)

On 22 February 1862, two days after his death, Willie Lincoln is laid to rest in a marble crypt in a Georgetown cemetery. That very night, shattered by grief, his father Abraham arrives at the cemetery, alone, under cover of darkness.

Over the course of that evening, Abraham Lincoln paces the graveyard unsettled by the death of his beloved boy, and by the grim shadow of a war that feels as though it is without end. Meanwhile, Willie is trapped in a state of limbo between the dead and the living – drawn to his father with whom he can no longer communicate, existing in a ghostly world populated by the recently passed and the long dead.

Unfolding in the graveyard over a single night, narrated by a dazzling chorus of voices, Lincoln in the Bardo is a thrilling exploration of death, grief and the deeper meaning and possibilities of life.

Futuna: Life of a building
Edited by Nick Bevin and Greg O’Brien
Limited edition available now at Marsden Books, $125
Standard edition, $50.00

Since its grand opening in 1961, Wellington’s Futuna Chapel – devised by architect John Scott and artist Jim Allen – has held a singular place in New Zealand’s cultural history. Futuna: Life of a Building tells the remarkable story of the chapel’s inception and construction, and its status beyond as well as within the architectural world.

The book also tells the vexed story of the chapel’s sale to a developer in 2001 and its subsequent dereliction and, at the eleventh hour, rescue.